Commerce Clause: One Of The Enumerated Powers In The Constitution

Question three. The Commerce Clause is one of the enumerated powers in the Constitution. It is granted to the Congress in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. Today, the scope of the commerce power is left largely to Congress, “often pitting the power of Congress to advance its national agenda against judicial constraints that favor business or state interests (text, p. 324).” The Constitution states that, among other enumerated duties, Congress had the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes (text, p. 325).” Prior to the Commerce Clause, the Continental Congress held no power to raise revenue or to regulate commerce among the states. Its power to conclude treaties with foreign countries meant little to nothing, unless it could control commerce coming into state ports (text, p. 324). Furthermore, the intense issues between the states and various business transactions led to the necessity for a stronger federal government in order to effectively control internal disputes.
The scope of the Commerce Clause reached the Supreme Court in Gibbons v. Ogden, as various discrepancies involving a power struggle between the federal and state governments emerged. In 1824, a New York state law permitted individuals the exclusive right to operate steamboats
Board of Wardens followed the framework of Gibbons v. Ogden, where the majority opinion determined that a Pennsylvania law requiring all ships entering or exiting the port of Philadelphia to employ a local pilot did not violate the Commerce Clause. Although the inclusion of navigation in the Commerce Clause has now been clearly defined, the “mere grant to Congress of the power to regulate commerce, did not deprive the States of power to regulate pilots…but to leave its regulation [of pilots] to the several States…(text, p. 331).” It was within this particular case that the Supreme Court granted power to the